“The war has been declared. Every male member between the age of sixteen and sixty should enroll in the army and every female between the age of seventeen and fourty should enroll in the female division of the army, with those between fourty and sixty being part of the medical units. There will be no exceptions, as long as you can walk and hold a gun in your hands. There were a few people who tried to hide themselves in their houses, and you know what happened to those traitors. For the women who wished to keep away from battle due to fear of losing their beauty, your beauty shall be carved out of you publicly. For the men who are too lazy, there shall be life for you to be lazy any more. We make it clear – do not make the public shame come to you and your family which will pass over to generations. The new volunteers who has just reached the age of eighteen have to report to the medical evaluation camp. Nothing personal should be taken; come as you were born, and we shall provide you with clothing and food. You shall belong to the government and will wear only our uniform and will eat what we give you to eat. The children between the age of thirteen and sixteen are supposed to end their studies until further notice, and help with the arms and amunitions department and the related industries. The citizens are advised not to use televisions and keep the radios supplied by the government and keep the frequency to only one area. The slaves are to be sent to the basement of every factory in chains. Remember, we are the new age Sparta, and we need all your power and energy so that we can continue to provide you with all the luxuries that you deserve” said the announcement in the streets.
Zeus looked at the piece of iron which was shaped like a head with two horns which were bigger than the head. There was no face on the head with the exception of fangs which stretched further down the wooden table as if to fix the head on it. He could remember what was the story behind that head which has featured in the coat of arms as well as the flag of the Northern Bloc for such a long time. It was related to a demonic invasion or an alien takeover, which is referred to by many names.
As far as he could know from all that he had collected from different people, the most significant one from his father itself, it was story of a failed space expedition, or rather a successful weapon expedition. It was the ship Scavenger which had used a newly found technology of bending space and time in order to travel through a newly created black hole which could lead to instant teleportation. But there was one problem, and it was that the object sent will go missing for a few hours before it comes back visible at a space specified, no matter how much is the distance. This was a completely Northern invention.
After the first few tests were made on automobiles and later space ships without people, Scavenger was the first to feature crew in it. The test was successful and the crew had come back. The energy for using this to send people to all planets in all the solar system were being accumulated when something strange had happened with the crew who visited a prison. They came up against a prisoner who was being interrogated, and they had tortured him to death. They were remorselesss, and taken to a hospital; on thorough examination, alien lifeforms were found to exist on them. Measures were taken to quarantine them, and the alien lifeform was kept in the laboratory for further research.
It was a conspiracy to replicate the alien virus, and spread them among the citizens in a mild dose so that they could co-operate with the new policies of the government which needed the support of its citizens on taking some stern measures. It actually worked perfectly. The media later managed to leak a lot of information, but the people were content with whatever they had received. But when the remaining alien life-force combined to form a demon-like creature, it had to be quarantined, not before causing mass destruction and taking hundreds of lives. Now the citizens of the Northern Bloc needs regular injections to keep the demonic elements from spreading.
The space program based on bending space and time has been cancelled ever since. There has been rise in violent crimes and the number of torture victims in the past which points to people not getting the vaccines or them not using the same. The most popular explanation for the phenomenon has been that the ship had gone to another dimension, to a place similar to hell. The army of demons had attached themselves to the ship by the orders of Lucifer himself. But the scientists had denied the theory and has stuck to the alien theory. It lead to a large number of groups of believers in religion, chosen only from the most intellectual thinkers who didn’t reveal their identities and met only at night in places which were least observed.
Zeus never supported both of these theories. He believed that it was his destiny and it was imposed upon him, which he should fulfill. If he was the master of torment and a torture-dealer, it was not a gift, but in his blood. He despised the feeling of being under control. He had to decide everything by himself, and even someone affecting his thinking process was not entertained.
To be continued…
Tennyson
The Divine Epic 